Knowlton Parish Council is starting the process of creating a Neighbourhood Plan for Wimborne St.Giles. A Neighbourhood Plan is a way for communities to have a say about the future of the places where they live and work that carries real legal weight. It allows communities to put forward a vision for their area and protects them against inappropriate development in the future.
To start the process, residents were asked to complete an online survey in June 2021 which revisits the work that was done in 2016. This was a chance to look at those proposals again and put forward fresh ideas and thoughts if necessary. The information gathered will help guide us to create a positive vision for the village for the future.
Update from the Chairman, 10th November 2021:
The Neighbourhood Plan programme is expected to extend to completion in early 2023.
A lot of work has been done with consultation with the community in general and also with the local planning authority, which is undergoing a significant change in its plans also. The NP Team – currently Caroline Barnes, Nick Shaftesbury, Steve Butler and myself - have been trying to ensure that our objectives are not only generally well-received but also likely to work well with the changing methods and objectives around us, and the impacts of things like climate change. Like a lot of things these days, this can be a pretty mobile environment.
We are working with a professional planner and, with financial support from central government, we are also making use of the expertise of a company called AECOM, who will be able to make some of the assessments of challenges and opportunities likely to succeed. These include a Strategic Environment Assessment to evaluate the environmental impacts – and possibly a Habitats Regulations Assessment – which we hope to have in place by early 2022.
The NP Team are also undertaking work on subjects such as the suitability and safety of our paths and roads to go about our daily movement around the area, including the mixture of motorised traffic of all sorts with those on foot, bicycle - and even on mobility devices. We also want to see how the existing footpaths and bridleways serve both our residents and visitors, and how and where it might be possible to extend or improve the network.
We are also looking at the things which make our enjoyment of the village and surrounding area’s ‘green spaces’.
Almost all of this will have to meet the agreement both of the local planning authority –and its own new local plan – and also a referendum of the local residents, when the design and extent of change is seen to be within both the needs and policies. There will be an appreciation of participation and contribution by other community members as the programme evolves.
There are a lot of impacts on village life and work from outside our control and with which, as a community, we will have to deal. The existence of a community-driven plan will give us greater influence on how this can be achieved.
The Neighbourhood Plan programme is expected to extend to completion in early 2023.